Bypolar
by ibuberu
Summary: He spends another week planning how to make his delivery, without coming off as a bipolar idiot for the last five years of Sapphire's failed advances. — RubySapphire.


**notes** – Happy New Year, everyone! Why not start it off with some RuSa? (: as you may or may not know, I have written 50 drabbles over the holidays, all of which are not posted on this account, they can be found on my lj, and there is a link to them on my ffnet profile, feel free to check it out.

* * *

**Bypolar**

Ruby is a meticulous person, and he thinks that not enough people understand this precious little gift of his. He invests days into the smallest of hats for Popo, he spends hours giving attention to Nana's tender fur, and he uses the longest periods to attempt to clean Zuzu until he is spotless and presentable – only to have him tromp around in the garden outside and drench himself in a blanket of grime not much later.

Sometimes, he wonders why he even bothers.

But Ruby is also a very determined boy, and he takes pride in his character so very much. It is no wonder Mimi showers him with adoring coos and soft eyes – he can only think about his magnetic charisma, and stroke her sleek, serpentine body with contented understanding. He will admit that he is not the most courageous person out there (but really, grooming pokémon like Zuzu and Rono are frightening feats not to be scoffed upon), and that he is not exactly a kindred spirit – but does an aspiring Coordinator need such traits?

When he casts discreet glances at this girl with namesake eyes and messy hazel hair, he thinks he should try to act braver or show more care to things outside of contests… she probably likes people with those characters. Ruby hazily remembers this older boy with jet black hair and crimson eyes that look so different from his own in the mirror, but he recalls the admiration on Sapphire's face, painted the most vivid of colours in his mind.

His chest clenches for a moment.

Many times before, he has dismissed the feeling as a passing wave of nausea, a miniature heart attack – anything but 'jealously' or 'frustration'.

But he is now sixteen-years old, and he has been sixteen for four long weeks. Age is now an expired reason to hold his feelings under a lock and chain. It is no longer a reason for him to hide behind petty things like fear and selfishness. Coco glides around his feet on her paws through the day and the night, mewing constantly in a testing, impatient tone – holding Sapphire's bandana, right glove, anything, in her scheming mouth.

And Ruby is meticulous – oh how very detailed he is – he can tell that his friend had never truly disliked spending time with him, regardless of all the contests she has endured and the afternoons whiled away helping him with his masterful creations. How she probably still has all these feelings for him that prove that she is in actual fact a girl, despite all prior impressions (vine-swinging, cave-crawling, expletive-yelling, barbaric-punching impressions).

Ruby doesn't know why he experiences happiness (of all questionable feelings) when he thinks of her. He yanks the pillow over his head and tries to sleep through all the noise pounding in his mind.

* * *

So maybe (perhaps), it could be possible (not very likely), there is a small chance (tiny, miniscule) that… he still likes Sapphire too, after five years of trying to steer clear of the subject. It is excruciating, when one tries to get over what had been labeled as a puppy love of a most bizarre combination, only to realise that all the hasty excuses and oblivious acts had been for naught – it isn't something you would want to discover in the middle of breakfast with your bitter old father.

He is a boy after all, even though Sapphire herself is infatuated with challenging his authenticity.

It is perfectly acceptable for him to have romantic feelings for someone of the opposite gender, perfectly alright. Except that this is Sapphire he is talking about (Sapphire! Of all people!), and since when did she get so beautiful and fun to be around, and when did her skin become so supple and smooth? When did her legs get so long and her… other... areas… well, that's enough with the examples.

Ruby is meticulous – he spends another week planning how to make his delivery, without coming off as a bipolar idiot for the last five years of Sapphire's failed advances.

* * *

Ruby says this with the most tact he can channel: "Hey, Sapph, do you remember what I told you when we were eleven?"

He has mentally prepared to be bombarded with fists and shouts demanding for an explanation to his sudden enlightenment (has worn an extra layer of clothing to cushion her lethal attacks), but it is not a lie to say that he is afraid, knees shaking.

"Eh? What? Y'said so much crap then, y'can't expect me to remember everything, can ya'?" the girl says, vaguely listening as she stares at the floor of their Secret Base. She seems to be inspecting a paw print of some sort with a tad too much interest, Ruby feels almost overlooked and indignant.

"T-that thing, just after our training at Mirage Island," the boy stumbles, one hand on the back of his neck.

"Oh!" Sapphire leaps on her feet and sends Ruby retreating a few steps back in surprise.

"Don't remind me about that! We were such kids back then! We've grown up already, haven't we? Let's forget all about it," she laughs as she says so, smiling a wide smile and trying to ease her embarrassment. "Right? Pal?" She slaps him brutally hard on the back.

Ruby produces a strangled noise.

* * *

Alright, so – wrong thing to say, wrong timing, wrong situation – wrong everything.

Ruby paces his room at a feverish speed and throws his hands into the air.

Popo stares at him through the open door, raising a concerned eyebrow, but Nana sets herself on her haunches in the hallway and shakes her head. She growls in a way that might mean 'trust me, this is completely normal'.

Ruby does not know quite what to do now. No wonder Sapphire had always been in such a cranky mood.

But he is determined, so he presses on.

* * *

"Look, there's a reason why I brought that up the other day, okay– " Ruby stops talking when Sapphire's tired hands fall and his measuring tape gets entangled between his arms and her wrists. She shuffles on the stool and stretches her back by bending forward; Ruby has to utilize all his self-control not to gawk down her shirt. He diverts his unreliable attention to the breadth of her shoulders, and it is a winning recovery meant for the history books just then.

"And what's it?" the girl probes, sighing as he tugs her hands up and brings the tape around to measure her waist.

"Well, just – think about it," he huffs, not knowing how exactly to continue. The girl throws him an appalled look, eyes narrowing in bewilderment as she says, "What? Why would I need to do that? You think for yourself, idiot."

"And this too–" She gestures to his skilled movements with the tape and his scribbling her sizes onto a notepad with diligence, "I don't get why you'd wanna' make me something out of the blue, you're weird."

* * *

Of course – he should have known that Sapphire wasn't the brightest sequin in the jewelry case. If he wanted to get his feelings across, he had to be direct about it.

Naturally.

It was going to be a breeze, winning a girl's heart was like winning a contest.

"Right?" He consults his lovely ensemble of pokémon for support. Popo ducks underneath the lampshade, Coco and Nana position their paws over their eyes and pretend to be sleeping – Mimi and Zuzu take turns offering him pitying looks and disappointed faces.

Ruby nearly cries.

* * *

"Sapphire!"

When she turns around, he thrusts the dress of leaves into her arms, and takes special care to avoid her eyes.

"C-could you be more cooperative?"

The girl shoots him a confused expression.

"I mean, it was hard enough making this for you, t-to show how I feel. But now – now your feelings just have to stop bothering me at the most crucial moment – your timing honestly needs some work," Ruby mutters, folding his arms and trying to maintain his prized composure.

Still trapped in her inability to read between the lines, Sapphire holds the dress in her awkward hands. She sniffs and examines it, finding a tag gingerly sown to the collar of the frock. She takes it up in her hand and squints, attempting to decipher the words. Ruby's eyes widen when it hits him then, that she never learned to read properly, and he wants to hurl himself off the cliff outside at that moment. Instead, his legs just give out on him and he stumbles onto his knees, breaking a bed of leaves.

"Can y'stop being such a sissy?"

Sapphire's voice cracks. When the boy emerges from his sea of thought – he sees a subdued look on her face, and comes to the conclusion that she had understood the penned words to a suitable degree. She isn't manhandling him or running for the hills (what a relief) she's just standing there like she doesn't know how to respond –

"Wait, so you claiming you got over me… that was all an act?"

Ruby thinks he might get pummeled, but instead, the girl collapses on the forest floor next to him and her face is redder than it ought to be. She's fighting a grin, and biting her lower lip, and she blinks furiously, holding back a tide of emotions as she grips the dress to her chest. Ruby doesn't quite know why this thought permeates his mind as the sunlight filtered through the tree leaves pours over her – but, god, she looks amazing.

"Make up your mind, will ya'?" The effect her words have on him is astounding; it makes him want to hug her.

"Y'can't expect me to keep up with you all the damn time." The girl lets her face fall into her palms and the texture of the dress, and her shoulders shake – with something that should be joy, Ruby hopes. He places a gentle arm around her and feels her sink into his hold.

Perhaps being brave and kind are not impossible worlds to reach now (or, at least Sapphire will have to make up for whatever areas he isn't amazing in). A slight smile blossoms on his face, and he thinks that Sapphire smiles too, underneath that tight shield of her wet gloves.

* * *

**end**


End file.
